Mark 10:27 AV
And Jesus looking¹ upon them saith,
With² men it is impossible³,
but⁴ not with² God:
for with² God all things are possible.
¹) To turn one’s eyes on …
²) From, by.
³) Unable to be done.
⁴) Nevertheless, notwithstanding; it forms a transition to the cardinal matter.
Other translations
Jesus glanced around at them and said, With men [it is] impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God. [AMP] Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God." [ESV] Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it." [MSB] And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. [KJV] Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." [NIV] Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God." [NLT] But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." [NKJV]
Study
And Jesus, looking upon them
And by their countenances Jesus saw the surprise and anxiety of mind they were in, as well as by his omniscience, knew their private reasonings among themselves
With God all things are possible
▪︎ Even to reduce a camel to such a small a size, so it can go through the eye of a needle;
▪︎ Even to work upon a rich man’s heart, so He can take him away from his trust and confidence in his worldly possessions, and bring him to a compliance with His will, and into His kingdom;
▪︎ Even to protect, and save his poor and mean followers, notwithstanding all the difficulties, dangers, and oppositions they meet.
▪︎ And even to save a poor sinner like me, and bring me safely to His Kingdom.
▪︎ If He can, reduce a camel to such a small size, that it will be able to go through the eye of a needle, which, with men, is an impossible thing;
▪︎ If He can, by the mighty power of His grace work upon a rich man’s heart, in such a way, as to take away his affections from his worldly substance, and cause him to drop his trust and confidence in it;
▪︎ If He can, so influence and dispose His mind, as to distribute His riches cheerfully among the poor, and largely, and liberally supply their wants, and even part with all, when necessity requires it.
▪︎ He can also change us completely and give us a new heart, when we long for it, and ask for it.
He can change our hearts completely,
▪︎ and cause the desires of our souls to be after the true riches of His grace and glory; and bring us to see our own spiritual poverty, our need of the Christ, and our need of salvation by him;
▪︎ and help us to deny ourselves, to take up the cross, and to follow him where He leads us, by submitting to His ordinances, and by suffering the loss of all things for His sake.
And He can carry us through a thousand snares, safely to His Kingdom and glory, which is what the Christ has asked from His Father.
Though things are impossible based on human nature, and strength … God is able!
And as to what the apostles suggested concerning the safety of persons in the Messiah’s kingdom, if no rich man could enter there, but should be in opposition to it; our Lord’s answer implies, that though, humanly speaking, it was not possible and practicable that they, a company of poor, mean, and despicable men, should be able to stand against the united force of the great and mighty men of the earth.
Yet God was able to support, and uphold them, succeed, and keep them, and make them both useful and comfortable, amidst all the opposition and persecution they should meet with, until He had finished His whole will and work by them.
And yet God is still able to support, and uphold us, let us succeed, and keep us, and make us useful and comfortable, amidst all the opposition and persecution we may meet, until He has finished His whole will and work by us.
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When we limit the meaning of the words to the direct context of the text, and we read the question of the previous verse as “what rich man can be saved?” Then the “impossible” refers to the release of the rich man from his possessions and his entering into the Kingdom of God.
Only God can take a person this far.
This explanation is supported by Peter’s response in Mark 10:28, in which he apparently does not identify himself and the other disciples, with the hopeless situation of the rich man, and still sees himself as a potential candidate for the Kingdom of God.
However, when the question of Mark 10:26 (‘who then can be saved?’) Is general in nature, Jesus’ answer can also be understood more generally; the ‘impossible’ then refers to entering the Kingdom of God, of any man, whether he is poor or rich.
The explanation of the previous verse argues for this view.
Man is thus completely dependent on the grace of God for his salvation. However, this also opens the door to the possibility of salvation, because “with God all things (including the salvation of man) are possible” (Mark 14:36; compare Mark 9:23; Genesis 18:14; Job 42:2; Zechariah 8:6).
Devotional
What happened to the rich young man is continued with a sigh of Jesus about the temptation of riches.
How great a hindrance can property and possessions be, to entering the Kingdom of God. Not that the rich are worse than the poor, but they have to overcome one more hurdle.
The disciples go even further; they signal that humanly speaking it is impossible to be saved.
And so it is, says Jesus. But He doesn’t stop there.
While one door locks hard, the other opens wide.
All things are possible with God!
Even that, what is impossible on our part, that sinners are saved.
What a miracle of grace!
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
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